


Rust

by SuperCaldera



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M, SasoDei - Freeform, might get nsfw later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 10:19:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4259646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperCaldera/pseuds/SuperCaldera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Sasori's joints stiffen and he (begrudgingly) needs Deidara's help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> my friend and i were discussing headcanons and i came up w/ the scenario. she started writing, i rewrote+edited everything  
> it's not beta'd or anything other than my edits, so hopefully this is ok :0
> 
> there might be two endings? one is fluffy and cute and one is nsfw but idk yet 
> 
> hope you enjoy it :0 please leave any comments/criticisms/etc
> 
> (originally co-authored/written by someone else, but didn't want to totally orphan it for caldera's sake!)

Deidara was slowly walking along, enjoying the rush of joy after winning a battle and completing a mission. It was always nice to put people in their place using his artistry. He stretched his arms above him, his muscles feeling a little sore from the fight. Rolling his shoulder, he noticed his partner had been falling behind. He stopped, turning around to see his master’s status. Sasori was a good ten feet behind and didn’t look happy at all, much more so than his usual grimace.

Deidara stood there for a moment and watched, frowning at his partner. "It's quite unusual for you to keep me waiting, hm, Master?" Sasori scowled at him, but continued walking forwards.  Deidara waited for him to catch up, noticing something off about his strides. "Hey, you don't seem to be doing so well... Did something actually damage you back there?"

Sasori sighed quietly, "As if…" He gave the blond a nasty side glance before continuing, "but if you must know, my joints are stiffening, and I didn't bring Hiruko so walking is making it worse."

Deidara looked away and chuckled slightly. Turning back towards Sasori, he mockingly said, "So much for embodying 'eternal perfectionism.'"

Sasori huffed at Deidara’s rudeness, shaking his head slightly. "Brat, I can’t even fathom your work... destroying your so-called ‘art’ the instant it's created… it's ridiculous.” He mumbled the last part while avoiding Deidara’s gaze, “Besides, you're walking too fast." Maybe criticizing his art would distract from the current embarrassment he was facing.

But Deidara groaned and continued walking, checking his clay pouch to see if he had enough for something to fly home on. With the clicking of joints, he could hear Sasori trying to cover up his limp. Deidara snickered to himself, only to be tripped by the tug of his partner's chakra thread. He fell with an ‘oomph’ and winced as his hand-mouths scraped against the rocky ground. He twisted around to shout at the puppeteer, "What the hell was that for, you ass?!"

"I already said that you’re walking too fast," Sasori retracted his chakra nonchalantly. To this, Deidara scoffed, slowly rising from the dirt and dusting off his knees.

"And I was just going to offer you a ride, hm." Deidara reached into his pouch, his hand chewing on the remaining clay. He opened his hand revealing a small clay bird. A cloud of smoke later, Deidara jumped up, sitting on its back.

"You can't return without me, and I won't let you leave, either," Sasori grumbled at his partner, not willing to directly ask him for a ride.

Deidara frowned when he saw Sasori twist his right arm, knowing what would come next. He swooped to the right to avoid Sasori's incoming jet of water, slightly relieved that he wasn’t using fire. After a few more seconds of trying to dodge Sasori’s attacks, the right wing tip was finally clipped. Deidara growled, frustrated with the damage done to his art, "Alright, alright, I get it, your frail form can't carry you anymore.” Grinning triumphantly, he floated downwards, teasing, “Once again, my art is proven to be superior _and_ helpful."

Sasori ceased his assault and lowered his arm, noting its creakiness but ignoring the snarky comment. He watched as Deidara landed nearby, looking pleased with himself. He hobbled over to the bird, using his stomach cable to rise up and settle as far away as possible from his smirking partner. "I've never seen you this vulnerable, Master Sasori…” Deidara turned to face the front while grinning, mumbling to himself, “To think, the _great_ Sasori of the Red Sand, defeated by age."

Sasori countered Deidara’s insult with a sharp glare at the back of his head, growling lowly, “Brat…” Deidara stiffened at his voice. “You’d better think before you speak, unless you want me to beat the shit out of you right now."

Laughing nervously, Deidara replied, "Haha, you would have to get back by yourself if you did that…" Failing miserably, he tried to maintain his coolness in spite of his master’s anger. Sasori squinted at him as they began flying off.

 


	2. Chapter 2

About an hour into the flight back home, the landscape began to change from sandy dunes and windblown rocks to woody forests and streams, the temperature dropping a good 10 degrees. The sky had darkened significantly at this point. Deidara looked back, checking on his partner. He felt a twinge of guilt when he looked back and Sasori had his eyes closed, his arms wrapped around his bent knees. If they hadn’t have wasted time fighting beforehand, they could’ve been home faster and with the problem fixed.  Deidara felt the first raindrops on his face as he looked into the clouds. He figured Sasori wouldn’t be able to feel it all.

“Hey, Master, it’s starting to rain, hm.” Deidara noted. Unbeknownst to his partner, Sasori’s head shot up, somewhat panicked. Pulling his cloak closer to his neck, he hoped to ward off some of the rain. With surprisingly no venom in his voice, he questioned, “Are we almost there, Deidara?” The blond was shocked; he had used his actual name, rather than one of his ever-so-endearing ‘pet names’.

“Uh, yeah, we should be there in about seven minutes, hm.” Deidara could see the raindrops running down his master’s hair and onto his pale face as he stared out into the distance. Deidara felt a knot in his stomach at the calmness between them. It was eerily quiet; Sasori seemed to have no more energy left in him to fight or yell at Deidara. He sat back as the tepid rain fell on both of them, trying his best to ignore the strange feelings in his gut.

Soon, the familiar landmarks that showed they were close to the hideout were visible, and he started his descent towards a large stone quarry. The bird landed under an overhang of rock, and he slid off its smooth surface, shaking his legs awake when he was on firm ground. Sasori was still sitting in the fetal position on the top of the creature. Deidara circled around, standing in front of his partner and looking up at him on higher ground. “You alright up there? You’ve been in that position for the past hour and a half, hm...” Sasori looked blankly down and tried stretching out his limbs. Not wanting to risk damage to his body, he wiggled so he could catch himself with stiff legs as he fell off the bird. Deidara winced inwardly at the creaky sounds Sasori made when he moved to walk past him.

“Uh, do you need any help, Master?” Deidara started moving towards him, only to be stopped abruptly with a sharp turn of Sasori’s head.

“I don’t need your help anymore.” He turned again, walking away with uncomfortable squeaks and crunches following each step. Deidara huffed in annoyance as his bird disappeared with a ‘poof’, following behind into the hidden entrance. He removed his cloak and hung it up to dry, noticing Sasori did not do the same. Trying to ignore this, Deidara walked towards their wing of the hideout. He turned the corner just in time to see Sasori trying to open the door without success. His fingers wouldn’t move, the joints too stiff to function properly. He couldn’t get by without touching him, but figured it wouldn’t be worth the beating. He waited, both to prove that Sasori _did_ still need him, and to avoid the possible meltdown that would result in Deidara acting first.

He tapped his foot, eagerly waiting for his master to turn around and accept his help again. However, Sasori could feel the anger building up inside of him with every click of his foot, along with an added tinge of humiliation for malfunctioning in front of his underling. Deidara sighed, giving up on waiting. He leaned against the wall, “Look, if you want me to open the door, you can just ask.” Deidara said, exasperated. He hoped Sasori wouldn’t lash out at him for offering his help.

Those were not the words that Sasori wanted to hear. All he wanted was solitude, where he could fix himself without the embarrassment or struggle. Deidara was too close, his voice too soft and too pleasant when Sasori didn’t want it to be. He hated it. The only way he could restrain himself from lashing out at his partner was to avoid him and escape that situation at all costs. Forcing his hand to move, he crushed the door handle into splinters and turned it, stepping inside as quickly as possible and slamming the door behind him. All that Deidara was left with was a resounding thud, the crackling of Sasori’s joints fading down the hallway.

With an angry sigh, Deidara stomped his way to the shower attached to his room, throwing his clothes off with very little care. “What’s his problem? He obviously needs my help,” Deidara muttered to himself as he let down his hair. “I’m his _partner_! He’s supposed to rely on me, especially when he can’t even _move_!” Repeating his initial sigh, he stepped into the water to cleanse himself of the day’s filth. If only he could do the same for all of their other problems.

Sasori stumbled over to his desk chair against the wall, somehow managing to sit down with a series of clicks. His legs were almost completely locked up. Exhaling a sigh, he let his head fall back against the stone wall, a dull ‘ _thunk_ ’ echoing throughout the room. He had no idea what to do; he did _need_ Deidara’s help, but _accepting_ it was the hard part. He couldn’t possibly be this weak and vulnerable in front of his partner. It was Deidara’s job to need help; he was younger, more fragile and reckless. Sasori had to be the one to keep him out of trouble, not vice-versa. But today had been a strange mix of tension and emotions, and he didn’t even know where to start. He had spent the ride back thinking about how to approach the topic _without_ getting laughed at.

He never intended for this to be an issue in his eternal body, but with art comes imperfection. It was hard to work on improvements when there was work to be done. He had simply waited too long between maintenance sessions, and now it couldn’t be helped. It'd be impossible to oil his joints without the help of someone else. If he did it himself, he might risk breaking something in his fragile body that couldn't be easily fixed. All that was safe to move were his eyes, mouth, and head, at this point.

He stared at the can of lubricating oil, sitting less than five feet from it. It was as if it was taunting him, laughing at every creak that came with the hopeless attempts he made to reach it. Truly, the only means out of this problem would be to swallow his pride and ask his partner for assistance. To his dismay, however, Deidara was too busy singing obnoxiously in the shower, surely to annoy him. The last thing he needed was his ears to be damaged too.

 

 


End file.
